


Slytherin's Celebrity

by SamsLady



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:20:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25874251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamsLady/pseuds/SamsLady
Summary: A re-imagined tale of Harry Potter.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	Slytherin's Celebrity

Chapter 1  
“Harry Potter! Welcome back, Harry!”

He grins as Hagrid pats his shoulder hard enough to almost push him to his knees. Having everyone so excited to see him is a strange and wonderful feeling. It sends ripples of pleasure shooting down his spine and all the way into his fingertips and toes. “Thank you!” he calls out to the small crowd of people who have gathered around him and Hagrid. He laughs, feeling a bit light-headed, as he shakes everyone’s hands.

“Sorry, everybody!” Hagrid calls out over the din of voices that have engulfed the interior of The Leaky Cauldron. “But we’ve got a lot to do.” He leads Harry through the bar and out into the area behind it. Tapping the correct brick with his umbrella-cased wand, he opens the way for the two of them to go into Diagon Alley.

Harry stares around him, a look of wonder on his face. “Wow,” he mutters, trying to look everywhere all at the same time. He hurries to keep pace with Hagrid. “Where are we going first?” He grins as Hagrid points to the tallest building, the gleaming white exterior shining in the sunlight.

Harry’s smile is even larger when the two of them re-emerge from inside the bank a little while later. His pocket is bulging with the bag of money he had collected from inside the vault his parents had left for him. He waves Hagrid away, barely listening as the giant tells him to go to Madame Malkin’s while he goes back for a drink at The Leaky Cauldron.

“Hogwart’s?” Madame Malkin asks as Harry steps inside. She nods and gestures for him to move in front of her. “Up on the stool. We’ve already got one getting measured.” She smiles at the other boy. “We’ll get you both fixed up in a jiffy.”

“Where are your parents?” the other boy asks.

“Dead,” Harry responds.

“Oh. Sorry.” the other boys replies without sounding a bit remorseful. “Do you know what House you’ll be in?”

“No.”

“Well, we won’t really know until we get there. Right? But I already know that I’ll be in Slytherin. All my family have been.”

“Yeah.”

“What about your family? What House have they been in? They are magical, right?”

“They were a witch and wizard, if that’s what you mean, but I don’t know what House they were in.”

“I don’t think they should let kids from Muggle families in. It’s just not right.” The other boy sniffs disdainfully. “Hey. Who’s that?” He gestures toward the picture window in the front of the store.

“Oh. That’s Hagrid,” Harry answers, stepping down from the stool as Madame Malkin helps him out of the robes she had thrown over him when he had arrived. “He works at Hogwart’s. I’ve got to go.” He leaves the shop before the other boy can respond, taking the ice cream Hagrid hands him with a smile. “Thanks, Hagrid.”

“Are yeh goin’ te be alrigh’ by yerself?” Hagrid asks after the two of them have finished shopping and gone back through The Leaky Cauldron to the street outside.

“I’ll be fine, Hagrid,” Harry responds as he takes the ticket the huge man holds out to him. “Thanks for everything.” He turns toward the train as it arrives, glancing back to smile at Hagrid again but not seeing him. He shrugs his shoulders and settles back on the seat for the ride ahead.

Harry smiles to himself as he crosses off the last day on the calendar he had made to keep track of the time until the start of school. Frowning a little, he leaves his bedroom and goes down the stairs and into the living room. “Uncle Vernon?” he questions as he approaches his uncle’s chair. “I was wondering if you could give me a ride to King’s Cross Station in the morning?”

Vernon Dursley stares at his nephew for several long moments as he debates silently with himself. He’s spent the past ten years trying to keep Harry feeling as small and insignificant as possible in the hopes of drumming out whatever magic he may have inherited from his parents. He makes a habit of never giving Harry what the boy wants. However, if he gives in and drives the boy to the train station it would mean not having to see him again until summer. “Very well,” he finally states. “We have to take Dudley to London to get that ruddy tail removed before he starts at Smeltings, or I wouldn’t bother. You would have to find your own way.”

The next day, Harry stares in disbelief as his family drives away from the station while still laughing at him. He clenches his fists in anger as he looks from Platform nine to Platform ten, unable to see how he’s supposed to get onto Platform 9 ¾ in order to catch the train to his new school.

“This way!” a woman’s voice carries through the crowd. The volume lowers, but Harry is still able to hear it as the woman passes close to him. “This place is packed with Muggles, of course,” he overhears her saying. “Hurry up! We’re going to be late! Percy, you go first.”

Harry stares, his mouth dropping open in shock, as a tall red-headed teenager runs through the crowd while pushing a trolley cart. He tries to see what the other boy does, but he disappears too quickly for Harry to be able to see. “Excuse me,” he says to the woman. “Can you tell me…”

“… how to get through the barrier?” she finishes for him, smiling as he nods his head. “All you have to do is walk straight through the barrier between the platforms.” She gives him an encouraging pat on the shoulder. “Best do it at a bit of a run if you’re nervous. You can go next. We’ll be right behind you.”

Harry looks around, glad to see that no one else seems to be paying attention to them, and then hurries toward the barrier. He holds his breath as he approaches it but doesn’t slow down, closing his eyes just as he should be slamming into it. He feels a whooshing sensation, opening his eyes to find himself standing on a platform beside a scarlet steam locomotive. He starts trying to drag his trunk toward the train, huffing a little with the effort.

“Need a hand?”

Harry looks over to find one of the twin boys he had seen on the other side of the barrier gesturing toward his trunk. “Yeah. Thanks,” he replies.

“Oi! George!” the twin calls out. He looks back at Harry. “I’m Fred Weasley.”

“Harry Potter,” Harry answers, shaking the hand Fred holds out and then doing the same with George as the other twin approaches.

“Are you really?!?” George questions, his eyes widening as they see the scar on Harry’s forehead. He grins, quickly leaning over and grabbing one end of the trunk.

Harry can’t keep the smile off his face as the three of them wrestle his trunk onto the train and into an empty compartment, hoisting it up onto the luggage rack inside. He’s still grinning as he turns his attention back to the other two. “Thanks again,” he says.

“No problem,” Fred answers.

“We’ll see you around,” George responds.

The twins leave the compartment, and Harry overhears them telling the rest of their family about him a few minutes later. He sits down on one of the seats and leans back, closing his eyes as he eavesdrops on the conversation.

“Don’t any of you go bugging him,” Mrs. Weasley tells her kids. She shakes her head as she sees the twins open their mouths to protest. “No!” she exclaims. “I mean it. He was ever so polite when he was asking how to get through the barrier. I was wondering why he was all alone.” She shakes her head again. “No. I’m sure he has enough to be worrying about without you pestering him. You leave him alone about his past.”

Harry is still grinning a couple of minutes later when the youngest red-haired boy pokes his head through the door of the compartment. “Do you mind?” he asks, gesturing to the other seats. “Everywhere else is full.” 

Harry shakes his head. “I’m Harry Potter,” he tells the red-haired boy as he settles himself down on a seat on the opposite side of the compartment.

“Really?” the boy asks, his eyes wide with excitement and curiosity. “I thought Fred and George were just trying to trick me or something.” He stares at Harry’s forehead for several seconds before giving himself a shake. “I’m Ron Weasley.” He opens up a paper bag he’s brought with him, wrinkling his nose as he unwraps a small stack of sandwiches. “Mum always forgets I don’t like corned beef,” he mutters.

Harry starts to say something but stops as a witch stops just outside the compartment door.

“Anything off the trolley, dears?”

Harry immediately gets up, his eyes searching over what the witch has to offer. He has never seen any of it before. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a bunch of the wizard money he had gotten out of Gringott’s. “We’ll take two of everything,” he states. He looks at Ron. “You better help me eat all this.”

The blonde boy Harry had seen inside Madame Malkin’s steps into the compartment a little later, flanked by two other boys. “Is it true?” he asks, glancing from Harry to Ron and back again. “They’re saying Harry Potter is in here.” He grins at Harry. “Oh! It’s you, is it?”

Harry nods. “Yeah. It is.”

“I’m Draco Malfoy. Let me know if you need to know the best people to get to know.”

Before Harry or Ron can respond, a girl with busy brown hair joins them. “Has anyone seen a toad?” she asks. “A boy named Neville has lost his.” She looks at each of the boys in turn. “I’d hurry and get your robes on. We’ll be arriving soon.”

“Alrigh’ there, ‘Arry?”

Harry beams and waves at Hagrid, enjoying the fact that the other First Years are staring at him in wonder. He follows Hagrid down to the lake where there was a fleet of small boats waiting.

The trip across the lake is incredible, and Harry stares in amazement as the castle comes into view. He tries to take in everything he can as he clamors out of the small boat he had ridden in and follows the others to the castle entrance.

“I am Professor McGonagall,” the witch waiting for them states. “Follow me into the Great Hall where you will be Sorted before joining your House.”

Harry keeps his back straight and his chin high as he approaches the stool and sits down, the Great Hall disappearing as the Sorting Hat falls down over his eyes.

'Hmm... interesting... there’s a lot going on here…’

Harry keeps silent, curious what the Hat’s decision about him will be.

‘I see plenty of courage… a desire to prove yourself… the potential for greatness… hmm… better be… SLYTHERIN!!!’ the Sorting Hat shouts the last word out for the entire hall to hear.


End file.
